After returning home, Nan Fusheng took out the soul spirit orb and released the soul spirit—Parasite—into his palm.
Under his control, gentle soul power began circulating through his body. The tiny parasite, glowing with a soft white light, slowly emerged from his hand.
Almost instinctively, the parasite sensed the presence of his Insect Martial Soul. It crawled up his fingers and soon reached the surface of the martial soul.
Then, something unexpected happened.
The insect's martial soul transformed into a beam of white light and directly fused into the parasite soul spirit. At the same time, a faint consciousness emerged in Nan Fusheng's mind—something warm yet fearful, and full of reliance.
But that foreign intent was swiftly overwritten by another—his own.
Nan Fusheng realized that when his martial soul fused with the parasite soul spirit, his consciousness had entered its body. He could control its movements freely, even completely replace its will.
Which he did.
The parasite's spiritual strength was far too weak to resist. Replacing it took no effort at all.
And interestingly, while doing so, Nan Fusheng felt his spiritual power increase slightly.
Thanks to his ascension to Sequence 5 and the fact that he had lived two lifetimes, his spiritual power already far surpassed that of his peers, likely at the Spirit Connectivity Realm. While he wasn't sure of the exact number, he was confident it exceeded 200.
This was also why he had concealed his true level during the Spirit Transmission Tower test. After all, a nine-year-old civilian child with a weak insect martial soul but spiritual power in the Spirit Connectivity Realm? That would raise too many suspicions—at worst, they'd think he was a shapeshifted soul beast or hiding some dangerous secret.
Now, with the soul spirit's will replaced, soul fusion was effortless.
Nan Fusheng's soul power began to surge. The bottleneck he had just reached cracked open slightly, and his internal energy flooded forth. As his martial soul evolved, the dam broke.
A lightness filled his entire body as the soul power in his dantian unraveled into countless threads, flowing into every corner of his being. Each cell seemed to awaken, vibrant and full of life. He felt light, fluid, and free.
With the soul spirit successfully fused, his soul power rose to Rank 13, and at the same time, he began to understand his first soul skill.
Insect Martial Soul — First Soul Skill: Parasitism
Parasitism: Allows Nan Fusheng to release insect clones to attach to others, absorbing their soul power and life force. It can also influence emotions, corrode martial souls and spiritual will, and even control targets.
The ability was divided into two modes:
Shallow Parasitism: He could create nine clones.
Deep Parasitism: He could create three clones.
Nan Fusheng had a gut feeling that this soul skill wouldn't improve any further until he reached Sequence 4.
"I'm starting to look like an evil soul master now... but this skill suits me perfectly."
He smiled faintly as he internalized the full scope of the ability.
A normal parasite soul spirit wouldn't grant this kind of powerful skill. It was the synergy between his insect martial soul, the Source Castle, and other unknown factors that gave rise to this unique ability.
No, not just an insect martial soul.
Strictly speaking, it should be called Worm of Time.
While it didn't look the same on the surface, its nature and functions aligned closely.
Using this soul skill, Nan Fusheng could now mimic the abilities of a Sequence 4 "Parasite" even while still at Sequence 5.
"Turns out, I wasn't given a bug martial soul for no reason. If I think about it... all the mythological forms from the Church of the Fool are essentially insects."
Now, it was time to deal with the only flaw and burden in his current life:
Zhang Erhe.
Just a low-life street thug, emboldened by a brother working in the Aolai City Guard. Zhang Erhe regularly bullied others, hiding behind his connections and a contraband soul tool firearm.
The locals of Aolai City, wary of his brother and his weapon, usually endured his behavior. To make things worse, Zhang Erhe was clever enough to skirt the legal edge, staying just below the line of outright criminality. His brother always cleaned up after him, so he lived a life of unchecked indulgence.
Today, however, Zhang Erhe wandered into Aolai City's civilian district, idly thinking about where he'd go next to collect protection fees. As if driven by fate, he turned down a particular street and entered a modest home.
Inside stood a woman.
Long black hair, a tall figure, and a gray blouse that perfectly hugged her curves. Her full chest pushed against the fabric, and her toned legs were wrapped in sheer black stockings. Her face glowed with a stunning, seductive smile.
The moment Zhang Erhe saw her, his blood boiled. All his self-control snapped under a wave of primal lust. He had to have her.
Maybe someone tried to stop him—he couldn't remember. He only cared about unleashing the beast inside.
When Zhang Erhe came to, he was lying in a pool of blood.
Pain surged through his chest. Looking down, he realized he was completely naked, blood gushing from a hole in his torso—his heart had been pierced.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something… but no words came. All he could hear was someone reporting the incident to the city guards… and the sound of his life draining away.
Soon, the whole city was in an uproar.
It was the worst criminal incident in Aolai City in years. The local Federation councilman immediately ordered a full investigation.
Before long, the entire story came to light:
Zhang Erhe had attempted to assault a woman in the civilian district. Her young son tried to protect her, only to be shot by Zhang with a soul tool gun. A few bystanders tried to intervene but were ignored.
In a twist of fate, the boy managed to grab the gun and kill Zhang Erhe. However, the trauma drove his mother to commit suicide shortly after using the same weapon, leaving only the child and two witnesses behind.
Aolai City – First Central Hospital
"Child… how are you feeling?" asked a gentle voice.
A three-ring healing-type Soul Elder had just withdrawn her soul skill and was now addressing the young boy.
"I'm fine, thank you, big sister… I just want to be alone for a bit."
"Of course. Rest well."
She gave him a pitying look and quietly exited the room.
Left alone, the boy—Nan Fusheng—exhaled slowly.
"Finally done staging that whole performance… and I even got to test out the basics of my martial soul."
Yes, the incident that shook Aolai City was none other than a carefully orchestrated test run by Nan Fusheng, both to experiment with his parasite martial soul and to clean up a useless burden.